Page 4 — Thursday, February 24, 2022 — The Hastings Banner
Have you met?
Do you remember?
Did you see?
Opportunity awaits in Nashville
I’m happy the people of his day allowed
and even helped Henry Ford build his auto-
motive empire back in 1903.
Ford’s dream not only put America on
wheels, it built a community of jobs, stabili-
ty, and philanthropy that still thrives.
Today, people in the village of Nashville
are being presented with the same kind of
opportunity. I hope they will be as welcom-
ing and helpful to a remarkable new initia-
tive as the people who recognized Henry
Ford’s vision more than 100 years ago.
With a 6-0 vote at their meeting on Feb. 1,
Nashville planning commissioners approved
the first stage of a planned unit development
to convert the former Kellogg School into an
apartment building. Dogwood Community
Development, a nonprofit development
company from Hart, has proposed turning
the long vacant structure into “The Village
Flats,” a 20-unit housing project consisting
of 5 two-bedroom units; 13 one- bedroom
units; and two studio units, all of which will
be available to people making less than 80
percent of the area median income.
The former school sits on nearly a block
of land in downtown Nashville within walk-
ing distance of the business district, restau-
rants, banks, churches and other services
that attract residents to the area. Dogwood
consultant Allan Martin says research shows
the estimated $6- to $7-million project will
attract seniors, young professionals and new
families as primary tenants.
The building has been empty for years
and was sold by the Maple Valley Schools
about eight years ago. Various proposals for
its use have been presented over the years,
but none of them have come to fruition.
This idea should be especially attractive,
given a housing shortage crisis that is affect-
ing – and impairing – the future of Barry
County, the entire state, and even most of the
country. Our county has fallen behind in keep-
ing up with its housing needs – from apart-
ments to condos to single-family housing.
Michigan, like many other states, experi-
enced a dramatic slowdown in residential
construction due to the Great Recession of
2007-09. And even though Michigan’s hous-
ing market has improved from its low point
a decade ago, according to a 2017 Census
Bureau survey, Michigan has just short of
the 4.96 million housing units it needs to
keep up with demand.
The problem has left Barry County falling
even further behind, despite an increase in
building permits. Those new projects are
located in the far northeastern section of the
county and reflect the growth of Kent Coun-
ty pushing down into Barry County.
We’re tagging onto someone else’s suc-
cess and not planning for and guiding our
own future. There is a reason for that.
When projects are proposed in Barry
County, local governments continue to put
roadblocks in the way and make it harder to
find developers interested in what is, virtual-
ly, a rural market. If Barry County expects to
increase housing starts, then it must get its
act together by making clear what it expects
from developers and streamlining the pro-
cess. Otherwise, developers will go where
it’s easier to get their projects approved.
I drove around Nashville last weekend to
look over the former school building and the
surrounding neighborhood. My feeling is, if
a developer is willing to plunk down mil-
lions to renovate the structure, it’s in the best
interest of local leaders to do whatever pos-
sible to make this project a reality.
Nashville business leaders recently heard
Bruce Johnston from Revitalize, LLC. of
Mason present information on grants and
partnerships to aid in renovating unused
buildings. The eyes of those local business
people must have popped when Johnston
stated that up to 50 percent of the cost of
renovation is available through the Commu-
nity Revitalization Program administered by
the Michigan Economic Development Corp.
“There’s more money in the state of
Michigan in 2022 than in any other time in
history – I’ve never seen this kind of fund-
ing,” Johnston said.
Johnston also alluded to General Motors’
plan to create 4,000 to 5,000 new jobs in
Lansing and his knowledge of other projects
that will create about another 10,000 new
jobs in the area.
That puts Nashville and Barry County in
a great position to attract some of those
workers to the area – if it has the necessary
housing available. That’s why I’m non-
plussed by the public comments of residents
who attended the Feb. 1 planning commis-
sion meeting, many whom voiced their con-cerns with the project becoming subsidized
housing for undesirable residents.
Joshua Guthrie spoke out against the proj-
ect, suggesting that people don’t want to see
growth in the village. County Commissioner
Ben Geiger, who lives near the school build-
ing, asked why there weren’t more two-bed-
room apartments for families and voiced
concerns that the project would look too
much like a school.
Nashville resident and former county
commissioner and state representative
Michael Callton expressed skepticism about
the low-income housing nature of the build-
ing, expressing concerns it could turn into a
subsidized housing project. Plus, he lives
across the street from the building and said
it’s not a good use in a neighborhood of sin-
gle-family homes.
It all makes me wonder about people who
profess love for their community but don’t
seem willing to offer the qualities of true
society: helping people succeed – even the
least among us. Opportunity is never possi-
ble unless communities are dynamic and
growing.
Projects like The Village Flats are essen-
tial for a community’s success and increased
housing plays an important role in the eco-
nomic opportunity for workers and their
families. Economic opportunity improves
physical and mental health.
If Nashville and other communities
throughout the county expect to grow and
maintain any level of stability then they
must be prepared for growth with strong and
effective planning that is reasonable for
developers and acceptable to residents.
One resident of more than 50 years saw
that wisdom and expressed it at the Feb. 1
planning commission meeting:
“We can’t keep saying no to everything,”
Mike Beachnau commented. “We must at
least open our minds to the possibilities – do
we want to attract more people to our com-
munity? There’s something that we have to
do with that building – I feel we have to
develop it or bulldoze it, one of the two.”
Across the state, old buildings like the
former Kellogg School are being rehabbed
for housing and other purposes. This historic
structure was built in 1935 as part of a grant
project of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to
build schools in communities across the
area. It would be shameful to raze a building
suitable for renovation, especially when an
interested developer with the ability to trans-
form a building into a mixture of housing
that is so badly needed in Nashville has
expressed interest.
There is excitement beginning to grow in
the community. Thanks to grants and a gen-
erous donor, Nashville will soon be display-
ing a nine-piece art exhibit of playful fiber-
glass cows throughout town. It’s part of the
ongoing effort to encourage more visitors
and add some interest for travelers passing
through the village. And who doesn’t appre-
ciate the Guinness Book World Record for
the longest ice-cream dessert that put Nash-
ville on the map? The Nashville Route 66
Business District is working hard to bring
attention to Barry County’s second largest
downtown district.
Towns don’t remain the same, they either
move forward or backward. Let’s keep the
new excitement growing by showing sup-
port for badly-needed housing and a great
project right in the heart of the village.
The initiative will be good for business,
for the schools and the community as a
whole.
Change is necessary if the village expects
to continue to prosper.
It’s not likely the community will find
another developer interested in the old
school building.
And, if it doesn’t, the village – and tax-
payers – could end up having to pay to have
it torn down.
Approve the project.
It’s the push Nashville needs now.The Hastings Banner
Devoted to the interests of Barry County since 1856
Published by... Hastings Banner, Inc.
A Division of J-Ad Graphics Inc.
1351 N. M-43 Highway • Phone: (269) 945-9554 • Fax: (269) 945-
News and press releases: [email protected] • Advertising: [email protected]Frederic Jacobs
Publisher & CEOHank Schuuring
CFO- ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT •
Classified ads accepted Monday through Friday,
8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Scott Ommen
Mike GilmoreTy Greenfield
Jennie Yonker- NEWSROOM •
Rebecca Pierce (Editor)
Kathy Maurer (Copy Editor)
Brett Bremer (Sports Editor)
Greg Chandler
Benjamin Simon Taylor OwensSubscription Rates: $52 per year in Barry County
$60 per year in adjoining counties
$65 per year elsewherePOSTMASTER: Send address changes to:
P.O. Box 188
Hastings, MI 49058-
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at Hastings, MI 49058Extremes
in weather
can pack
a wallop
Extreme change in tem-
peratures can create danger-
ous conditions that require
extra caution – and we're not
just referring to slippery
roads. Bella, a golden retriev-
er, shown here amid a snow-
fall in Vermontfille a couple
of weeks ago, went through
the ice on a lake last week-
end. Luckily, she was res-
cued by her owner. But it's a
good reminder to the rest of
us to watch out for ourselves,
and our pets, as ice begins
to melt and the season
changes.Retailers
refreshed
Banner Feb. 21, 1963
Register for ‘School’ – Mrs.
Donn [Alice] Clarke, manager of
the Bonnet and Gown Shop, is
photographed as she registers
with E.L. [Ernest] Carpenter, of
Carpenter Hardware and chair-
man of the retail division of the
Hastings Chamber of
Commerce, for the first session
of the Retailers Refresher
course at Hastings High School.
Mrs. Richard [Donna] Slocum of
Dale’s Bakery is waiting to sign
the registration book. There
were 122 at this first meeting,
and the final session will be
Tuesday, Feb. 26, in Room 182.
Sales people from Freeport,
Lake Odessa and Nashville, as
well as from Hastings, have
been attending the course spon-
sored by the retail division.Lily Kampf was diagnosed with cancer
when she was 3 years old.
She survived neuroblastoma, a type of
cancer that impacts the nervous system, but
it left her with a number of lifelong compli-
cations.
Most notably, it affected her ability to
communicate. She missed essential stages
of early development, making it hard to
pronounce certain sounds. Years of chemo-
therapy and radiation took away her ability
to hear, and she now uses hearing aids.
Luckily, Lily has two sisters. And when
Lily struggled to make a “ch” or “sh”
sound, her sisters Chloe and Sadie would be
right there, ready to tell people what Lily
was saying.
“We developed an understanding of her
language, as we like to call it. So, we would
be her translators to people who didn’t quite
understand her,” Chloe said.
Living with Lily has shaped Chloe’s life.
Now, Chloe Kampf, 23, is the newest
speech-language pathologist in the Barry
Intermediate School District, where she is
helping people like Lily.
Growing up in Rockford, Chloe Kampf
knew from a young age she wanted to work
in healthcare. While at Rockford High
School, she envisioned becoming a child
life specialist, assisting with the social-emo-
tional support of childhood cancer patients.
But when she arrived at Grand Valley
State University, she met with advisers and
shifted to a different profession.
“I mentioned my little sister and how I
really loved communicating with her and I
loved helping her communicate with other
people,” she said. “And it just kind of
clicked.”
They directed her to speech pathology, a
wide-ranging field, where she could work
anywhere from childcare to schools to hos-
pitals to private practice. She could help
kids with autism or middle-aged adults who
cannot speak or other adults who have
experienced speech loss.
Kampf, specifically, wanted to help kids.
While earning her bachelor’s and master’s
degrees at Grand Valley State University,
she logged months of internships at Grand
Haven Public Schools, Kalamazoo Region-
al Educational Service Agency and Head
Start for Kent County
She graduated from Grand Valley in
December 2021 with a master’s degree inspeech and language pathology. That’s
when a short-term speech pathologist job
with Barry ISD in Hastings popped up.
Although Kampf grew up on the north
side of Grand Rapids, she knew Hastings
well. Her grandparents live on Pine Lake
near Prairieville, and as a kid, Kampf rode
through Hastings, played in the Thornapple
River and visited their nearby cottage.
Now, she works with students who have
speech and language impairments or disor-
ders at Southeastern Elementary, St. Rose
Catholic School and Noah's Art Preschool.
“In a school, you really get a lot of differ-
ent speech and language impairments and
disorders exposure,” she said. “So, as a
newbie in the speech-language pathology
industry, I was like, ‘OK, well, I really need
to kind of be exposed to everything before
I really figure out what I want to do right
now. I need to cover all the bases.’”
Kampf started the position in January,
but it’s not a long-term gig. She’s filling in
for a speech pathologist on maternity leave
and she will only stay through the end of
the current school year. The job will count
toward nine months of required clinical
fellowship hours that she must complete to
receive full certification.
Right now though, most of her life
revolves around the 40-minute commute
from Grand Rapids to Hastings. It cuts into
her free time visiting Oval Beach on Lake
Michigan or skiing at Caberfae.But she doesn’t mind the commute. It
gives her the chance to be mindful, watch
the sun rise, listen to her favorite podcast,
“National Park After Dark,” and jam to her
self-created music playlist of folk music (“I
love making playlists,” she said. “I love
making playlists for every occasion in my
life, ever.”)
The commute doesn't bother Kampf --
not when she is carrying Lily in her heart
every day to work. The job, she said, has
only given her a new appreciation for
Lily, now 20, and everything she has been
through.
“Her life will always be difficult in the
way that she is disconnected from the world
in that way, which is really sad to think
about,” she said. “But she is one of the
strongest people I’ve ever met in my life.
She wakes up every day and does her best,
and I just admire her so much.”
For her temporary role as a speech
pathologist with the Barry ISD, Chloe
Kampf is this week’s Bright Light:
I am most content when: I’m at my
grandparents’ cottage on Pine Lake.
A big accomplishment for me: Study-
ing abroad and completing a research proj-
ect in France.
What I like about my job: I learn new
things every day – whether a fun fact from
a student or different ways to improve my
speech and language therapy.
Favorite board game: Telestrations.
When I was a kid I wanted to be: A
race car driver or a veterinarian.
If I could have any super power: The
ability to speak and understand all languag-
es.
If I could build or make something, I’d
like to try: Building an A-frame house.
Person I most admire and why: My
little sister, Lily. She continues to amaze me
with her capabilities as an individual who is
hard of hearing and has speech and lan-
guage difficulties.Each week, the Banner profiles a person
who makes the community shine. Do you
know someone who should be featured
because of volunteer work, fun-loving per-
sonality, for the stories he or she has to tell,
or for any other reason? Send information
to Newsroom, Hastings Banner, 1351 N.
M-43 Highway, Hastings, MI 49058; or
email [email protected].Chloe KampfFred Jacobs, CEO
J-Ad Graphics, Inc.